Presently, the national mineral industry datasets (geology, airborne geophysics, and mineral occurrences) generated by the collective efforts of the United States government and the government of Liberia are all available in digital format. This sector can now boost a modern
mineral licensing system since the 1960s. In addition to the USGS mineral investigation in Liberia, the mineral resources of Liberia were also investigated for gold, base metals, and other industrial minerals by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) between 1968 and 1972. These additional commodities are listed below: Metallic minerals: Uranium, Barite, Base metals, Bauxite, Clay, Kyanite, Manganese Phosphate, Silica Sand, Coltan (columbo tantalite), Technology metals: (niobium, tantalum, rare earth elements, lithium, beryllium).
Under the Liberian Minerals and Mining law, revised in April 2000 categorized the mineral title into Exploration, Reconnaissance and Prospecting, while Mining licenses are categories into
Class A, B and C mining licenses, respectively. This revised law was strengthened by the Public Procurement and Concessionary Commission Act (PPCCA) of 2006, and subject to Regulations of March 2010. The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), formerly the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME), is the Government Agency responsible for the administration of the mineral and mining sector of the country, including the granting of exploration, Reconnaissance, prospecting and Mining licenses, and has statutory oversight of the energy sector. A national Mineral Policy for Liberia was created in March 2010 to complement the 2000 Mining and Minerals Law which aims to deliver “equitable and optimal exploitation of Liberia’s mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development” (MME 2010). All the relevant legal & tenure documents can be found on the
Ministry’s website: https://mme.gov.lr/laws-and-regulations/
The department of mineral exploration and research has the sole responsibility to grant the following research licenses: Exploration, Reconnaissance and Prospecting, respectively, while the department of Mines has the sole responsibility to grant the following Mining licenses: Class A, Class B, and Class C according to the scale of mining. New Liberian Mining Company Gold & Diamond Mining have applied for a prospecting license and was granted, which led to the approval of a Class ‘B’ mining license as shown below in figure 8. New Liberian Mining Company Gold & Diamond Mining license was issued on 9th February 2022, covering an area of 100 acres. Figure 6 shows the property
mete and bounds by UTM WGS 84.
| Mineral Title/License Type | Maximum Area | Duration | Conditions and Restrictions | Other Key Aspects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reconnaissance | 2000km3 | 6 months | No drilling, trenching or pitting. | One six-month extension allowed |
| Exploration | 1000km2 | 3 months | Land area continuous exclusive rights, program of work approved my MLME | 1 – 2 year extension permitted, subject to surrender of 50% of original area. |
| Prospecting | 100 acres (0.4km2) | 6 months | Commercial mining not allowed | 1-6 months extension allowed. |
| Class A Mining | 25 years renewable | Approved feasibility study and environmental impact study required | Demonstrated technical competence and financial resources to undertake the work. | |
| Class B Mining | 5 years renewable | Industrial mining allowed. Up to 15 license holder may work in cooperation. | ||
| Class C Mining | 25 acres (0.1km2) | 1 year, renewable | Citizens of Liberia only. |
Generally, Eighty percent (80%) of the rural road connectivity has been damage as a result of the 15 years of civil conflict. Some rehabilitation and recent construction have been in progress since 2005. Access to the rural part of the Country is by means of unconditioned and deplorable laterite road. Moreover, in some part of the country access is lacking due to damage bridges. In the more remote parts of the Country, access is only possible by motorbike or on foot.
New Liberian Mining Company project area is no exception to the road conditions in the rural part of Liberia. New Liberian Mining Company license area is no exception to these conditions. The license is located in Grand cape mount county, western Liberia. It can be reached from Monrovia along a well-maintained Asphalt Road via Clay to Tubmanburg (62 km). From Tubmanburg to Lofa bridge (11km) before heading for Weajue town. From Weajue, the project site can be reach by a 21km poorly maintained laterite road to Fulah camp town. This road has been partially upgraded by a logging company.
The climate of Liberia is tropical and humid, with little change in temperature throughout the year. The mean average temperature is 270 C (810 F). The country has rainy season which runs from April to October. Annual rainfall can be as high as 510 cm on the coast decreasing to about 200 cm in areas farthest inland. The dry season runs from December to February with an average relative humidity of 78% and during the rainy season 82% mainly in the coastal areas. Fieldwork can be carried out all year around, however there are practical considerations. Access to remote areas during the rainy season can be challenging or impossible due to the poor condition of roads and tracks or the state of the locally constructed wooden bridges which require regular rehabilitation or reconstruction.
The climate of Liberia is tropical and humid, with little change in temperature throughout the year. The mean average temperature is 270 C (810 F). The country has rainy season which runs from April to October. Annual rainfall can be as high as 510 cm on the coast decreasing to about 200 cm in areas farthest inland. The dry season runs from December to February with an average relative humidity of 78% and during the rainy season 82% mainly in the coastal areas. Fieldwork can be carried out all year around, however there are practical considerations. Access to remote areas during the rainy season can be challenging or impossible due to the poor condition of roads and tracks or the state of the locally constructed wooden bridges which require regular rehabilitation or reconstruction.
7.0 Physiography
Three distinct topographical belts lying parallel to the coast line of Liberia. The low-lying coastal belt between 15km to 80km wide with tidal creeks, shallow lagoons, sandy beaches and mangrove swamps. Away from the coast in land are rolling hills with elevation ranging from 60meter to 150meters, which constitute the second topo belt of Liberia. The third is
predominantly comprising the bulk of the country landscape that is marked by elevation changes in a series of low mountains and plateaus. These are less densely forested than the hilly terrain. These mountainous regions include the Nimba (near the Guinea frontier) and Wologisi ranges. The Country consist of Six (6) principal rivers including the Mano, Lofa, St
Paul, St John, Cestos and Cavalla, all flow southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. The country is heavily forested cause by tropical rain forest but most part have been deforested due to agriculture, rubber plantations, logging and local forest extraction for fuel purposes by local farmers.
The main source of geological information derived from on-site field mapping. The local geology of the New Liberian Mining Company project comprises of dominant Archaean basement rocks characterized by Granodiorite gneiss, green stone belt (mafic to ultramafic), and late intrusive cross cutting diorite dykes. These lithologies have been subjected to intense deformation and shearing creating conduits for gold mineralized fluid associated with siliceous alteration to be concentrated. Two types of Ultramafic were identified and distinguished base on texture, composition and alteration into shear Ultramafic and Unsheared Ultramafic. Generally, the unsheared ultramafic are massive with dominant magnetite composition and intense chlorite alteration. The shear ultramafic showing banded structure and intense siliceous alteration, thus hosting gold mineralization.
The project has high potential for shear Zone lode gold deposit situated along the structural corridor of the Archean green stone belt, extending north-east from Avesoro mining company (new liberty gold mine to Nbalama gold mine). Gold mineralization is concentrated in the shear ultramafic rock over a width of 10-20meters and depth of approximately 25 meters (doing mapping) with significant silica alteration.
In addition to the shear zone related gold deposit, the project surrounding also has potential for placer gold deposits due to the deep and intense tropical weathering profile which causes persistent erosion in areas of moderate to low relief that favor the concentration of placer gold deposit. These deposits are approximately 2-4 meters thick, narrow and discontinuous due to faulting system and are mine by artisanal miners.
The widespread occurrence of placer gold deposits in Liberia suggests significant potential for bedrock-hosted gold mineralization and provides useful guidance for exploration targets.
New Liberian Mining Company Gold & Diamond Mining Company operations had been challenged relative to processing of the ore. The proper equipment required had not been available as management started with the use of mini-crusher/grinding machines locally known as Kata—Kata Machines. With the use of these machines, recovery of gold was attractive but cost intensive.
There were 15 of the machines working on a daily basis and the recovery for each of these Kata—Kata was 20-30 grams of gold per day. These mini-grinding machines were active for 90 —days of work. If we do calculate the recovery for the 90 —days as: 15 Kata-Kata*30 grams per day*90 days, we will have the total recovery of 40,500 grams. Due to the rock hardness